Egyptian mummies: the latest discoveries

Saqqara necropolis, south of Cairo, Egypt, 11 February 2009: Egyptian archaeologists have found about 30 mummies and at least one unopened sarcophagus in a burial chamber about 4,300 years old. Dr Zahi Hawass, the country's head of antiquities, believes a mummy from the tomb is a man named Padi-heri, and that wrapped inside some of the mummies could be as many as 100 gold amulets. The tomb lies within a sixth-dynasty tomb of a man named Sennedjem in the same ancient necropolis as the famous step pyramid of Saqqara

Thursday 12 February 2009 07.11 EST
First published on Thursday 12 February 2009 07.11 EST

This picture, one of the first realeased by the Egyptian Supreme Council Of Antiques, shows a coffin inside the tomb at Saqqara necropolis